Bp. Morlino with Sen. Santorum

via FatherZ 

HT TV

Santorum endorses Wis Personhood... a little late.

What the kids these days call an epic fail.

Today presidential candidate Rick Santorum endorsed the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment, legislation that would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to apply personhood rights to preborn children at all stages of development. Introduced by Representative Andre Jacque (R-Bellevue) last October, Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 77 seeks to extend the inalienable right to life found in the Wisconsin Constitution to all preborn children from the beginning of their lives.

“I support the efforts of Wisconsin to protect the unborn through a state Constitutional Amendment,” said Santorum. “As our founders declared, our Creator endowed us with inalienable rights - of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Protecting the unborn is the starting point for preserving the American dream and opportunity for all."

continue at Pro-Life Wisconsin

Not a "fail" that he endorsed it, but that his campaign in Wisconsin blocked the issue until election day rendering the endorsement useless to boost his campaign.  Word on the street is that he enlisted Wisconsin Right to Life folks (who oppose Personhood).  Had his endorsement come a week earlier, it could have made a significant difference in rallying conservatives to his candidacy. 

Photo

Rasmussen: WI Primary: Romney 44, Santorum 34

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds Mitt Romney with a 10-point lead over Rick Santorum.

The survey found 44 percent of likely GOP primary voters favored Romney, while 34 percent backed Santorum. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were supported by 7 percent each.

A week ago, a Rasmussen poll had Romney up 46-33.

This week's survey of 717 likely GOP primary voters was conducted Thursday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

WiPolitics

I think it's likely that Romney would pick Catholic Marco Rubio as his VP.

In 2008 it looked like this:

John McCain	224,755	54.74%	34
Mike Huckabee	151,707	36.95%	6
Ron Paul	19,090	4.65%	0

Romney had already dropped out prior to the Wisconsin Primary.

Slamtorum

So Mark Shea had some thought on Rick Santorum...  I can see his point.

I am not voting for Sen. Santorum for this reason as RecoveringFeminist commented in my previous post:

We will not end abortion until we end the contraceptive mentality. This is from February 16, 2012:

Santorum defends moral versus political stance on contraception while caught in crossfire of super PAC supporter's 'bad joke' - Interviews - On the Record - Fox News


"...I mean, the bottom line is my position is very clear. I've had a -- a consistent record...of supporting women's right to have contraception. I've supported funding for it. ..."


"...But the issue of contraception, that's not the case. It's something that people have a right to do in this country. And it certainly will be safe to do so under the Santorum presidency. ..."

Contraception is a bit tricky.  Supporting a national ban isn't plausable.  The matter should be allowed to be regulated by each state (90% of this countries political problems come from the overreach of the federal government).  But when public funding for contraception is "safe to do so under the Santorum presidency" I think I have to look elsewhere.  For the record, I am supporting another candidate.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the Santorum photos this week.   I am grateful that a man of such deep faith is running for president.  I just wish his political positions were more in line with Church teaching.

Rick Santorum's surprise visit to the Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse

That's Leif Arvidson the director of the Shrine facing the camera

St. Maria Goretti

Since blogs post stuff like this; Santorum received Holy Communion on the tongue after genuflecting.

Shrine to the Unborn

His daughter is the young woman with him. Santorum said he went to Confession three days ago. His daughter said, "It's been about two or three weeks for me." She then proceeded to the Confessional and went to Confession with the friars.

The rest on the Guadalupe Shrine's Flickr page

CapTimes: In moderate Wisconsin, Santorum is poised to win GOP primary

When it comes to social issues, Wisconsin is a middle-of-the-road state. While the Republican Party here confidently supports the national platform on issues such as abortion, sex education and gay rights, the religious right is not front-and-center of politics here the way it is in the South.

Perhaps the best indicator of a population's stance on social issues is church attendance, and according to a 2009 Gallup poll, about 40 percent of Wisconsinites go to church weekly or biweekly, a rate slightly lower than the national average of 41.6 percent.

While Wisconsin voters comfortably approved a ban on gay marriage in 2006, recent polls indicate that, if given the opportunity again, Wisconsinites would vote differently. As for abortion, Wisconsinites, like many Americans, are ambivalent, but polls show the vast majority are opposed to a "personhood amendment" that would define life as starting at fertilization, thus banning all abortions and emergency contraception.

So why is Rick Santorum -- the man who alleged "Satan" was "attacking the U.S." in 2008 -- poised to squash Mitt Romney in the state GOP primary in April? According to a Marquette University Law School poll released today, Santorum has the support of 34 percent of likely GOP primary voters, followed by Romney at 18 percent, Ron Paul at 17 percent and Newt Gingrich at 12 percent. Seventeen percent remain undecided.

Read more at Your Progressive Voice

In 2008, of the three candidates left, McCain took 55%, Huckabee 37%, and Paul 6%. 

Wisconsin Family Council put out a voters guide.  It's pretty good, but interesting they did not publish if the candidate supported taxpayer funded contraception which is a bigger deal to both sides than say: "Using a prospective federal judge's ability to empathize with particular societal groups as a criterion for their nomination."  Wouldn't it be nice if the Catholic dioceses put something out like this?  Or distributed the WFC guide?